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Series of videos revealing our unique history

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12 May 2016

Kelvin Hughes has a proud and enviable history dating back over 250 years. The company can trace its roots back to Thomas Hughes, a Master of the Clockmakers’ Company, one of the 110 City of London Livery Companies, and William Thomson who became Lord Kelvin, a prolific inventor and one of the world’s greatest scientists. Few companies can boast a history quite as varied and intriguing.

In order to keep that history alive, we are building an impressive collection of documents, videos and artefacts at our Head Office. We are now delighted to announce that we are about to release a series of original films, including a number to which we have been given access by the generosity of Huntley Film Archives and Redbridge Museum.

The films include:

Radar in 1948 This film begins with the manufacture of a Type 1 radar, which was produced at the Kelvin Hughes production facility in Hainault, Essex from 1947. It then goes on to cover the assembly of the display and upmast transceiver and antenna turning unit before showing its subsequent installation and use.

Fishing and echo sounders - 1960s The Kelvin Hughes MS.39 fishing echo sounder is the subject of this film. It is shown here in use by two fishing fleets - one from Mallaig, looking for mid-water shoals, and one from Arbroath in search of bottom feeding fish. The film also shows the MS.39 being tested under extreme conditions in the Kelvin Hughes laboratory.

How radar machines are built and used - 1970s This film shows the production, testing and use of the Kelvin Hughes type 19 radar system. The series A type 19 was hailed as a new solid state transceiver based on the highly successful Naval 1006 radar system. Part of the Type 19 series was also the Queens Award winning (awarded in 1975) Situation Display.

Kelvin Hughes - Land Sea and Air Produced by Redbridge Museum, this film was made to mark Kelvin Hughes’ move, in 2013, from its Hainault premises, where the Company had been operating for nearly 100 years, to its new state-of-the-art facility in Enfield, North London.

All of these films are available on the Kelvin Hughes YouTube Channel under Playlists or can be accessed via History section during the month of May. There are also plans to add further videos over the coming months.